The Island of Forgotten Gods: Chapters 1–8

by Victor Piñeiro
Nico and his cousins Kira and Nessi go to Puerto Rico to spend the summer with their Abuela Luciana. While enjoying the island's beauty, they encounter fantastic characters, ancient gods, and a monster that could be the infamous chupacabra.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–8, Chapters 9–15, Chapters 16–20, Chapters 21–30, Chapters 31–Epilogue
15 words 11 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. throes
    violent pangs of suffering
    I have a complicated relationship with the wind. And that was a problem at the moment because I was thirty thousand feet in the air and in the throes of a raging panic attack.
  2. paradise
    any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
    “Breathe, Nico, breathe,” I whispered to myself. I brought myself down from a nine to an eight…seven…six. Once my anxiety was at a five, it was back to staring out the window waiting for paradise to appear.
  3. mantra
    a commonly repeated word or phrase
    I whispered the contents of the bag to myself—Sony ZV-1, shotgun mic, charger, mini reflector, lenses—like it was my mantra.
  4. extricate
    release from entanglement or difficulty
    “Are you staying in PR for a while?”
    Half of me wanted her to leave, the other half appreciated her trying to extricate me from my snake pit of a brain.
  5. mestizo
    a Latin American with both European and indigenous heritage
    She looked indigenous, mestizo—dark black hair, copper skin, and a smile from a different era.
  6. permeate
    spread or diffuse through
    Something dark and sad seemed to have settled on Puerto Rico. A grayness that permeated, even under cloudless skies.
  7. elaborate
    add details to clarify an idea
    “Let’s talk about that later.” It hung in the air a bit because I didn’t want to elaborate on my complete failure.
  8. gravitas
    formality, dignity, or seriousness
    She stood silhouetted against the door, signature sundress draped over her solid frame, silver cane holding her weight. Skin like a gnarled branch, eyes that pierced through souls, and a gravitas that she must have earned through lifetimes.
  9. jettison
    throw away, of something encumbering
    “Prepare to jettison any worries or troubles you’ve got out the airlock in three… two…one…aaaand gone.”
  10. disintegrate
    break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity
    Kira waved her fingers in the air, pretending to watch them disintegrate in the sky.
  11. magnum opus
    a creator's greatest work of art or literature
    “I rewatched the two-minute short I made for the application on the plane. A week ago I thought it was my magnum opus. Nope. It’s absolute trash.”
  12. shoddy
    of inferior workmanship and materials
    “It wasn’t bad, right? But then everything went wrong. The fact that I tried to cram ten minutes of story into two minutes. The shoddy editing job I did because of the deadline.”
  13. footage
    film that has been recorded
    “B-roll?” Nessi asked.
    “Extra footage you can cut to while someone’s talking,” I said. “Think landscapes, shots of houses and historic places, beaches…”
  14. spelunk
    explore natural caves
    In seconds we were spelunking.
    The small passageway opened into a dome-like room the size and shape of Grand Central Station. Which is to say, enormous.
  15. scourge
    something causing misery or death
    My brain and body almost shut off then and there. Seeing the shadow was one thing. Labeling it the mythological scourge of Puerto Rico was another.
Created on Fri May 15 20:26:37 EDT 2026 (updated Mon Jul 13 16:24:11 EDT 2026)

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